On the vacation of a lifetime in Egypt, an elderly French couple are brutally murdered. Days later, a meticulously planned kidnapping takes place on the streets of Paris. Amelia Levene, the first female Chief of MI6, has disappeared without a trace, six weeks before she is due to take over as the most influential spy in Europe. It is the gravest crisis MI6 has faced in more than a decade. Desperate not only to find her, but to keep her disappearance a secret, Britain’s top intelligence agents turn to one of their own: disgraced MI6 officer Thomas Kell.

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Publisher's Summary

From the internationally acclaimed, New York Times best-selling author of The Trinity Six, Charles Cumming, comes A Foreign Country, a compelling tale of deceit and betrayal, conspiracy and redemption.

On the vacation of a lifetime in Egypt, an elderly French couple are brutally murdered. Days later, a meticulously planned kidnapping takes place on the streets of Paris. Amelia Levene, the first female Chief of MI6, has disappeared without a trace, six weeks before she is due to take over as the most influential spy in Europe. It is the gravest crisis MI6 has faced in more than a decade. Desperate not only to find her, but to keep her disappearance a secret, Britain’s top intelligence agents turn to one of their own: disgraced MI6 officer Thomas Kell. Tossed out of the Service only months before, Kell is given one final chance to redeem himself - find Amelia Levene at any cost. The trail leads Kell to France and Tunisia, where he uncovers a shocking secret and a conspiracy that could have unimaginable repercussions for Britain and its allies. Only Kell stands in the way of personal and political catastrophe.

What did you like best about A Foreign Country? What did you like least?

After an interesting beginning, the story loses some steam and the plot gets a little far fetched. The reason for the French secret service being the bad guy is given a weak explanation. Over all, this proved to be just an ordinary audiobook.

Jack in Marin

Would you be willing to try another book from Charles Cumming? Why or why not?

Yes! I have listened to several other Cumming books. I enjoy the stories involving the WWI nurse.

What does Jot Davies bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The reader did a good job and made it easier to finish the story. Had I read the book, I might have given it up.

Could you see A Foreign Country being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

It is not a blockbuster story. I doubt it is unique and/or compelling enough for a movie or TV show.

Any additional comments?

I enjoy my Audible membership. On the rare occasions that I have had problem your customer service staff resolved them promptly.

So many reviews promise spy thrillers similar to le Carre and Greene. This one does have echoes. I liked it much more than Steinhauer, whose characters I can't seem to care about. Cumming's ending wouldn't have come from le Carre or Greene (planning a series?) but this was the first thriller in a long time I wanted to listen to without a break. Another reviewer suggested it's a slow starter; but I was hooked from the first paragraph.

This was recommended to me by my son who knows I am a Le Carre fan and I was not disappointed. I would have no hesitation recommending this book to a fan of intelligent, well written spy thrillers such as those written by John Le Carre or Len Deighton.

After searching for awhile on Audible for a good spy thriller and reviewing the many positives for this book, I eventually spent my credit. My interest piqued on the summary of the book from Audible also and it seemed that an interesting page tuner was in-hand. Oh dear! This book is actually quite interesting on the first few chapters and utterly disappointing the remainder. Sadly, there is no mystery as it is solved early on and the remainder of the plot becomes quite tedious and boring. I don’t think there is anything else to say really.

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

I enjoyed this book because the narrator was excellent (none of us chronic Audible devotees think the narrator is of marginal importance, of course). But the story got off to a VERY slow start. Once it got rolling, it was worth the wait, but persistence is required.

What does Jot Davies bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

He has a wonderful facility with the differentiation of accents and gender.

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